The present invention relates to an arrangement for emergency opening, and more particularly for breaking up a vehicle door.
Known arrangements for opening or breaking open vehicle doors are utilized in case of an emergency, for instance in case of accidents when it is necessary to break open closed or jammed vehicle doors. When the arrangement is utilized for a passenger car, a beam is placed on the outer face and lengthwise of the vehicle adjacent to the lower edge of the vehicle window. One end portion of the beam lies on the outer face of the vehicle door to be broken up and extends as close as possible to the vehicle door hinges. The other end portion extends outwardly beyond the edge of the vehicle door, which is to be disengaged from the vehicle body. A U-shaped pulling element of the arrangement is then placed so that its outer leg lies on the beam adjacent to the door handle. An inner leg of the pulling element abuts against an inner face of the vehicle door, whereas a transverse portion or cross piece of the pulling element, which connects the inner and the outer legs with each other, extends through the door window opening. An inflatable cushion is then inserted between the other end portion of the beam and the vehicle body. When the cushion is inflated, it urges the beam outwardly from the vehicle body so as to tear off the door.
The above described pulling element is made as an integral member. It is composed of a quandrangular bar which is bent so as to assume a U-shaped configuration. A pulling rod is arranged on the free end of the outer leg of the pulling element, the pulling rod extending outwardly and terminating by a ring. Practical applications of such an arrangement have shown that it possesses a disadvantage which is based on the fact that various vehicles have doors of different thicknesses. In order to set the U-shaped pulling element onto the vehicle doors having differing thicknesses several beams are provided also having differing thicknesses. When the arrangement is utilized for breaking up a vehicle door having a particular thickness, it is necessary to select a beam having a respective thickness. However, the arrangement is generally utilized in emergency situations, that means that in most cases it must operate as fast as possible in order to release passengers which are trapped in the vehicle. It is to be understood that the above mentioned neccessity to accurately select a respective beam is a considerable disadvantage of the arrangement.